In the Stacks
Here are just a few of the new non-fiction books that have come out at the public libraries this week:

Not a good mix
Mothers Against Drunk Driving wishes all participants in the Golden North Salmon Derby a safe and fun time. We encourage all those out on the water to do it smart. Bring a six-pack of your favorite beverage - just make it non-alcoholic.

The real question
I wondered after reading the story on slavery reparations in last Sunday's Empire if some of us might be excluded from Louis Farrakhan's vision. People like myself whose grandparents arrived in America long after slavery was abolished cannot bear responsibility for the crime of slavery.

Time to wise up
A talk show host recently said: "Hammond must be an idiot endorsing Fran Ulmer."Well, even idiots should be able to detect five major differences between Fran and Frank, which could tilt them her way.

'To put it bluntly ...'
I am a resident of the Douglas apartment building where the Dumpster-raiding bear was trapped Tuesday morning.

Intact watersheds offer lasting economic benefit
The Forest Service has missed the point about the economic importance of few remaining intact watersheds during its review of roadless areas in the Tongass National Forest. As a charter fisherman and hunting guide, I depend on the remaining undeveloped areas of the Tongass, such as Tenakee Inlet, for my livelihood.

For Frank and Robin
In this Tuesday primary election, I encourage all naturalized citizens and registered voters across Alaska from every country of origin to vote and thank those who have helped us during the past and the present.

A positive force
I encourage every voter to consider Loren Leman for lieutenant governor.

Le bear abroad
The Empire and Mr. Costello might like to know that the "Spirit Bear" story made it here to France.

Ill-advised timber sale
The Forest Service proposes a large timber sale at Point Couverden, an area very heavily used by Juneauites recreating there.

Creating a habitat for Tlingit
Last week Tlingit language students made the equivalent of a trip abroad, or back in time, to a place where only Tlingit was spoken.While students of French would fly to Paris, the seven Tlingit-language students and five fluent speakers spent a week at a camp near Berners Bay. There they created what they couldn't find elsewhere, a community where they would hear and speak only Tlingit.

Israeli, Palestinian tell Juneau there's an alternative to violence
Friends of Israeli Devorah Brous' brother were killed in Jerusalem in an Arab bombing on July 31. A house belonging to Hisham Sharabati's Palestinian family in Hebron was invaded by Jewish settlers on July 27.But Brous and Sharabati spoke together Friday in Juneau of the need for people to listen to each other.

School board candidates down to 8
High school student Carl Brodersen, whose Juneau School Board candidacy application was held pending his voter status last week, has been certified to run in the Oct. 1 municipal election.

Flaming van
A van is fully engulfed in flames on the beach near the Thane Ore House on Sunday afternoon.

Police and Fire
Reports from Juneau police, fire officials and state troopers.

Derby wunderkind's 34-pounder tops, so far
Ryan Beason still has a few years to go before he's eligible for one of the college scholarships sponsored by proceeds from the Golden North Salmon Derby.But if the 13-year-old Douglas resident holds on today to win his second consecutive derby, he may not need any financial assistance for school.

Coast Guard: Enforcement expected against Ryndam
The U.S. Coast Guard will sanction a cruise line whose ship discharged partially treated sewage into Juneau's harbor last weekend, officials said.The state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Coast Guard continue to investigate reports that the cruise ship Ryndam discharged a brown substance near the cruise ship terminal in Juneau on Saturday, Aug. 17. Officials with Holland America said Monday they were looking into why about 250 gallons of partially treated sewage spilled out of a tank vent on the cruise ship.

Teen wins derby - again
It was an unprecedented year for the 56th annual Golden North Salmon Derby. Unofficially, 2002 saw the first two-time champion, winning in back-to-back seasons, in a year that brought in more "scholar-fish" by the end of the second evening than all of last year's event.

Juneau Tlingit institute expands to Ketchikan, Sitka
It's the first year for Sealaska's Tlingit immersion retreat, but the fourth for the annual summer Tlingit institute.The Sealaska Kusteeyi Institute teaches Tlingit-language students and their teachers. Shirley Kendall came down from Anchorage for the two-week program in Juneau. As a Tlingit-language teacher, she found the teaching-methods class useful.

My Turn: Questions about NOAA project remain
The recent media blitz regarding the Lena Point NOAA project deserves a response from the residents who will be most affected. It appears the NOAA project is a win-win situation for all involved; however, the facts are hidden in a mirage of politics. The real benefits of this project to Juneau may not be as great as they seem. All issues covered in Ms. Boehme's Aug. 8 My Turn are technically accurate and well founded.

Empire editorial: Instant runoff voting pros outweigh cons
Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), also known as preferential voting, is a method of voting that allows voters to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. Under this method, if no candidate receives a majority (50 percent plus 1), runoff rounds are conducted until one candidate receives a majority.

My Turn: Voting for the future of Alaska
On Tuesday, Alaskans ballot in the state primary election. It should attract a large number of voters, at least more than the 17.2 percent who balloted in the 2000 primary election. One reason for the expected higher percentage is because the state has purged its registration roll of people long gone from Alaska. Seven thousand fewer people are registered to vote this year than the 460,000 in 2000.

Correction
The last four sentences of Sunday's Empire editorial inadvertently were omitted.

The king of salmon
Of the five Pacific salmon, the chinook or king salmon is perhaps most prized by anglers. These fish get huge with the largest caught being a 126-pound giant captured in a fish trap near Petersburg in 1949. On sport gear, the record still stands at 97 pounds for a Kenai River hog landed in 1986.
Chinook salmon spawn from California to Japan. The upper Yukon River stocks travel over 2,000 miles to reach their spawning grounds, the longest freshwater salmon migration in the world. When salmon return to the freshwater to spawn they stop feeding and rely on fatty reserves to give them the energy necessary to complete the spawning cycle.

Winner's Tales
They'll wax eloquent about the wait, but most won't blab about their favorite fishing hole.Recent winners of the Golden North Salmon Derby all had stories to tell. They talked about wondering whether they'd be beat, the boat they fished from and what they'd do with their winnings. Most, however, wanted to keep the most desired information - exactly where they caught their big king - a secret.

A paddle and a climb: Alpine club takes on Mount Robert Barron
"So what made you think of trying to climb Robert Barron?" Scott Foster asked as we paddled our kayaks across the gentle waters of Stephens Passage. It was a warm, muggy July morning and the 3,475-foot Mount Robert Barron was hidden under a low gray cloud.
"I wasn't quite sure," came my reply, but the climb was something I had been thinking about for a few years. It was something different to try - a peak off the road system on the north end of Admiralty Island, but easily accessed by kayak or boat. It also looked like it could be a challenge, so I offered to lead the climb and added it to the Juneau Alpine Club calendar.

Fish Report
The chances of landing a king salmon went up in the most recent survey.It took an average of 66 hours to land a keeper king in the Juneau area, somewhat less than five-year average of 78 hours. Last year it took 55 hours to land a keeper. The few kings that are being harvested are mostly coming from the backside of Douglas Island and North Pass.

Wysocki and Menendez complete Ironman Canada
Juneau's Robert Wysocki and Jessica Menendez both achieved their Ironman goals Sunday, crossing the finish line together at the Ironman Canada triathlon in Penticton, British Columbia.

Crimson Bears dominate in Sitka
There were some unresolved questions about how this fall's Southeast cross country teams would perform going into the first region meet of the season - Friday afternoon's Sitka Invitational.Juneau-Douglas High School's runners provided a definitive answer.

Turner takes seventh at Hershey's meet
Daniel Turner, the Juneau 10-year-old who earned a trip to compete in the Hershey's Track and Field Youth Program North American Final Meet in Pennsylvania earlier this month, made the most of his sweet journey.

Service knocks off Juneau
It might look as if the Juneau-Douglas High School football team got pushed around a little bit Friday night, according to the final statistics from the Service Cougars' 23-13 victory over the Crimson Bears at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park.However, just two plays made a significant difference in the final score.

Several races to be won Tuesday
Partisan voters in Tuesday's closed primary will decide eight legislative races around the state long before the final vote in the November general election.

Tape of Godfrey's 911 call shows dispatcher's delay
ANCHORAGE - Anchorage police dispatchers disregarded the address Patti Godfrey gave them during a 911 call, relying instead on inadequate computer information, a tape of the call shows.A badly injured Godfrey waited 48 minutes for help after she reported that she and her husband, retired public safety commissioner Glenn Godfrey, had been shot inside their Eagle River home. Glenn Godfrey had been killed, although Patti Godfrey didn't know it at the time.

Cat back with family
KODIAK - "Rascal" the cat has been reunited with his family after being on the lam for more than a year.

Murkowski says he'll boost mining
Republican candidate for governor Frank Murkowski says the state should help build roads to open remote mining areas, including one near Juneau.

Measure likely to change voting system
Four of the six political parties in Alaska endorse a state ballot measure to allow voters to pick candidates in order of preference. In the Aug. 27 primary, voters will decide if they agree with "instant runoff voting."Also called "preferential voting," the measure would allow voters to cast their ballots for up to five candidates in order of preference in elections for the state Legislature, the U.S. president and vice president, and the U.S. senators and representative from Alaska. The system excludes the races for governor and lieutenant governor. In primary elections, voters would rank candidates only within one party.

Knowles declares Western Alaska fishing a disaster
Western Alaska fishing communities suffering another poor salmon season will get state aid after Gov. Tony Knowles declared the entire region an economic disaster area for the fifth time in six years.

Petersburg: A lifetime of photography
Luther Joseph is not the kind of man who retires. The series of nine still photographs on the wall of his apartment at Mountain View Manor are ample testimony to that.From across the room, a viewer sees simply a brown shape, a group of sinuous lines on a black background - seals. A couple of steps closer and the knobby dry texture of these shapes reveals that they are yams. Even examined this way, the sense that the subjects are just about to move stays with the viewer - these are animals only momentarily in repose.

GOP mailing spurs 5% party switch
A mail campaign aimed at Libertarians, Republican Moderates and Alaskan Independence Party voters encouraged hundreds to flee their parties to cast ballots Tuesday in the GOP primary, said the head of the state Republican Party.

Blast spurs shut off of 150 wells
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. plans to shut down and test about 150 North Slope oil wells in response to an explosion that seriously injured a worker earlier this month.